Wetlands Lost and Found in the Levant - Restorative Redevelopment of Devastated Ecocultural Landscapes - page 63

FIGURE 6.12 Numerous turtles and fishes are frequently seen from the boardwalks.

twenty thousand today. The restoration site is now a major tourist destination draw-
ing hundreds of weekend visitors from around the country. Future plans exist for
a wildlife safari park and an ecotourism center. Some species, however, had to be
deliberately introduced as they had been extirpated from the local area and the seed
source had been removed such that direct manipulation was required. And finally,
and most importantly in the eyes of many, the new wetlands of restored Lake Agmon
now operate as a nutrient sink, serving to maintain downstream water quality in the
precious Sea of Galilee.
Israel has an active and highly regarded group of aquatic scientists, and given
the near complete absence of desert wetland restoration projects anywhere in the